AN ITALIAN NEOCLASSIC ORMOLU-MOUNTED ROSEWOOD, WALNUT AND PARQUETRY COMMODINO

The striking use of neoclassical inlay on this tavolino da notte (which is veneered on all four sides) in particular the spiral-twist of the legs and the Vitruvian scroll frieze, in combination with the finely chased laurel swag ormolu handles, relates it to a group of Genoese commodes and night tables executed in the 1780's and 1790's. Although the celebrated Milanese cabinet-maker Giuseppe Maggiolini is known to have worked in Genoa (he supplied a magnificent marquetry commode to Marchese Domenico Serra in 1784) and undoubtedly exerted an influence, the Genoese cabinet-makers favored a more sparing but bolder inlay, with less elaborate use of floral motifs. Other closely related tavolini da notte are illustrated in A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Il Mobile in Liguria, Genoa, 1996, pp. 285-7 and in G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Neoclassico Italiano, Milan, 1955, fig. CXLVIII, the latter with spiral-fluted legs.
(see also detail illustration on p. 88)